115. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the fact a recent newsletter (details supplied) highlighted that the survey had no recent data for a very large number of sites across the country as no counter had been assigned to these sites; if he is satisfied that the level of service currently being provided is in line with the requirements of contracts for which large sums of public funding are being provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43377/24]

The Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS) is the national programme for monitoring population trends of wintering waterbirds. The I-WeBS programme began in 1993 and is one of Ireland’s longest running bird monitoring programmes. It provides comprehensive national coverage, across over 250 wetland sites, including extensive coverage within Ireland’s network of waterbird Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

The scope and ambition of the I-WeBS monitoring programme is such that the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department requires the support of external professional services in its delivery. As such, NPWS undertakes an open procurement process, in line with public service tendering requirements, to obtain the necessary services every 5 years. BirdWatch Ireland successfully competed for this contract in 2019, and they currently coordinate the delivery of the I-WeBS monitoring programme. The delivery of the programme relies on staff from NPWS and BirdWatch Ireland as well as an extensive network of hundreds of volunteers of suitably trained/experienced citizen scientists to regularly monitor wetland sites in the winter.

The referenced recent newsletter, I-WeBS News, the newsletter of the Irish Wetland Bird Survey, had an appeal for surveyors in the August 2024 edition to assist with improving the survey coverage at a range of sites. This includes, amongst others, I-WeBS sites for which there is no recent data and for which there is no currently assigned surveyor. As the article was an appeal for improved coverage at sites, it did not display or include those sites that are receiving sufficient survey coverage. For example, it does not detail the approximately 100 I-WeBS sites for which there is a very high level of data available from winter 1994/95 to present, such that it has been possible to generate site-specific population trends for species occurring at these sites. For further information on these trends, see: birdwatchireland.ie/app/uploads/2023/08/iwebs_trends_report.html

The contract for services for the I-WeBS programme details specific tasks and deliverables in terms of survey coverage, with specific requirements for coverage within SPAs. The NPWS Project Officer for the contract regularly liaises and meets with BirdWatch Ireland, with contract requirements for survey coverage discussed in detail, including outlining where improvements in survey coverage are needed and avenues to be pursued to improve the coverage, whether via voluntary citizen scientists, BirdWatch Ireland staff and/or NPWS staff. At times there are challenges to achieving the desired level of coverage and some sites cannot receive the required survey coverage due to, for example, unsuitable weather, surveyor illness, or inability to access sites. Solutions are being implemented to help improve coverage in areas, including appealing for coverage via newsletters.

NPWS is satisfied that the current level of service is in line with the contract requirements.